"Blaming video games distracts from the broader issues at hand": IGDA and IGDAF react to Trump mass shooting statement

View more

Company

Developer organisations the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) and the International Game Developers Association Foundation (IGDAF) have released a joint statement saying that the blame does not lay with video games for mass shootings in the United States.

The executive directors of IGDA and IGDAF - Renee Gittins (main image, left) and Nika Nour (main image, right) - have said that there is no link between violent video games and gun crime, as well as that blaming interactive entertainment distracts from the broader conversation about gun legislation in the USA.

This follows two shootings in 24 hours, in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas. At the time of writing, 31 people have died as a result of these instances; nine were the result of the former, with another 22 killed in the latter incident.

To date, there have been 248 mass shootings in the United States in 2019 to date, with 246 people killed and 979 people injured.

“Our deepest condolences and hearts go out to the victims and families affected by the tragic events in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas," Gittins and Nour said.

"Society has endured too many senseless acts of violence and horrific mass shootings. Blaming video games distracts from the broader issues at hand. There is an overwhelming amount of research that finds there is no evidence linking video games to violence. Video games do not cause violence, and we support efforts to discontinue this misguided information.”

Alex Calvin launched PCGamesInsider.biz in August 2017 and has been its editor since. Prior to this, he was deputy editor at UK based games trade paper MCV and content editor for marketing and events for London Games Festival 2017. His work has also appeared in Eurogamer, The Observer, Kotaku UK, Esquire UK and Develop.